


Beyond the Bounds of “Till Death Do Us Part”

by hanahikari



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, this is so old holy shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-10-29 02:26:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10844577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanahikari/pseuds/hanahikari
Summary: "I do." "Till death do us part."That was part of their wedding vows.Man and wife: Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina.They were supposed to have a long and happy married life together with their newborn son... but now that they're so close to dying, their final words flow freely.





	1. Onyx Eyes, Crimson Hair

**Author's Note:**

> Written way back 5/2/13, before the anime aired that episode (where Kushina still had time to entrust Naruto to Sandaime). This was my first one-shot in two parts thing.
> 
> Initially posted in FF.net; posted on 5/7/17 here on AO3.

“Minato...”

“Kushina.”

Our voices sounded thick with blood.

We laid side by side on the bloody ground, she facing the sealing altar, which held our peacefully sleeping son, and I facing her back.

It seems I won’t be seeing her face and her bright onyx eyes for the last time.

What a shame.

I’m really surprised that I don’t feel the slightest pain anymore, considering how sharp the Kyuubi’s claw which went through me and through her.

The numbing from _that_ jutsu, it must be.

I kind of wish I could give the numbness to her, so that I would bear all her pain, so that the last moments of her life would be free of suffering.

Her long red hair—our ‘red thread of fate’, she called it—flowed and became one with the red liquid that came from our own bodies.

But enough of that.

“We’re still going to see each other again, right?”

Funny, how she still tries to assure herself that we will, indeed, be seeing each other again. She knows full well what effects the Shiki Fuujin has, being in the clan that invented that very sealing technique.

But...

“Yes, I promise.”

Even I would like to believe that we will be together again, and I’m willing to wait.

No matter how long.

“Do you swear that by your name?”

Now she wants something like a declaration of fealty.

But...

I chuckled at that, “Yes. I, Namikaze Minato—Konoha’s Kiiroi no Senko, Yondaime Hokage, and most of all, husband to Uzumaki Kushina and father to Namikaze Naruto, swear by my name.”

I gave her what she wanted, nonetheless.

‘Father’, huh? I’m positive that Naruto won’t even recognize me as his father, but that’s okay... I’m in no position to protest against it.

The sealing was my idea after all.

I thought she’d be very pleased by what I just said, but instead she cried some more, her frame quivering.

I forced my left hand to move and reach for her hair, and stroked it when I succeeded.

“Kushina, no need to cry... I promised, right? Don’t you believe me?”

“I do. I really do, Minato.”

That reminded me of our wedding vows.

Man and wife.

I didn’t want to slip away from my wife.

My light and beacon.

“That’s good to hear. Then I’m going now.”

“But!”

“I hope to see you soon, Kushina, when I find a way to bust from the Shinigami’s stomach...”

Actually, I don’t hope to see her _soon_ , because that would mean that the Kyuubi had enough power over Naruto to make him sprout the 8th tail, thus freeing the piece of my chakra that I sealed in him.

Really bad news.

“Now isn’t the time to joke about that, dattebane!”

Oh, I’m going to miss that verbal tic of hers.

“Goodbye, Kushina. I’m sorry... I love you...”

Sorry for everything I failed you in.

Maybe we weren’t destined to live a long and happy life with our son in this time, but I do hope we would have our chance in the next one.

I love you, forever, over and above ‘till death do us part’.


	2. Aureolin Hair, Sapphire Eyes

The pain was excruciating.

The birth, the extraction, and then this large gaping hole.

But I don’t care about those.

Actually, I’m happy to bear it in place of my boys, so that Minato can go on without difficulty, and Naruto will be able to sleep peacefully.

I forced myself to speak, lest I let Minato slip away from me without even knowing about it.

“Minato...”

“Kushina.”

The precious voice I won’t be hearing for a while, marred with the blood in his mouth.

“We’re still going to see each other again, right?”

What a stupid question.

I know very well that whoever casts _that_ jutsu will be locked away forever in the Shinigami’s stomach.

Okay, there _is_ one way to get him out of there, but the chances of it happening are so small—it’s negligible.

But...

“Yes, I promise.”

I wanted to hope that that ‘negligible’ chance will somehow come true.

And now that he promised me, I’m surer that it will.

“Do you swear that by your name?”

He laughed.

Oh, I’m going to miss that laugh of his, like crystals clinking against each other.

“Yes. I, Namikaze Minato—Konoha’s Kiiroi no Senko, Yondaime Hokage...”

All the names and titles he went by in his lifetime.

“And most of all, husband to Uzumaki Kushina and father to Namikaze Naruto, swear by my name.”

And suddenly, I am reminded of the day he had saved me from Kumo.

An amazingly splendid ninja.

My tears sprang at the memory.

I felt his gentle hand stroke my hair.

Our ‘red thread of fate’.

“Kushina, no need to cry... I promised, right? Don’t you believe me?”

“I do...”

It sounded to me like I was taking our wedding vows again.

“I really do, Minato.”

“That’s good to hear. Then I’m going now.”

Please don’t go.

Please.

How can he be so peaceful? It’s as if we weren’t impaled by a 6-foot long claw and are presently drifting to our doom.

I to a long, long time of waiting, and him to the Shinigami’s stomach.

“But!”

“I hope to see you soon, Kushina, when I find a way to bust from the Shinigami’s stomach...”

To actually have gall to joke about his predicament is so like him.

Always able to find the little joys in all things.

“Now isn’t the time to joke about that-ttebane!”

“Goodbye, Kushina. I’m sorry. I love you...”

I didn’t want to say goodbye, because it isn’t goodbye yet.

Not now, not ever.

But he’s gone.

My harbor has drifted far away, out of reach.

Seriously, screw my clan and its longevity.

It’s so unfair, dattebane!

To see people you love die ahead of you... such a cruel fate.

Lady Mito suffered the same fate; his husband Shodai Hokage perishing before her.

I glimpsed our little boy Naruto, the only one peaceful after the chaotic night, for the last time.

Then I forced my heavily damaged body and turned around to have a final look at my husband’s face.

And there he is, smiling sweetly as ever, eyes closed as if he were only asleep.

He appeared just like every night when I would stare at his sleeping face, whenever he would fall asleep before I did from his busy day being a Hokage.

I willed my right hand to move, and touched his face and caressed it like I would, if I could, with Naruto.

It’s a shame I didn’t get the opportunity to glimpse his sparkling sapphire eyes.

I refused to let my tears blur my vision.

I pressed my forehead against his, and stared into the eyes that will never open again.

“I love you.”

Thank you, for everything you had done for me.

Somewhere, in our next life, we’ll find each other again, and live a long and happy life with our son.

It’s just that this time isn’t our best time.

I love you, beyond ‘till death do us part’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how was it?  
> Did I successfully drown you in feels?
> 
> I hope the me of 4 years ago did well.


End file.
